As the game of basketball has increased in popularity, a greater number of people have purchased basketball systems for use at their homes. Such basketball systems typically comprise at least a pole to which a backboard and a goal is secured so that the goal is suspended above a playing surface. The basketball backboard can be made of a variety of materials including various polymers and composites. Clear acrylic backboards are becoming increasingly popular because they resemble professional backboards.
There are several problems which must be overcome to successfully use an acrylic basketball backboard. First, the backboard must be adequately bonded to a support frame. Second, there must be sufficient flexibility in the bond to dissipate the impact energy from the backboard to the frame. If the bond between the backboard and frame is too rigid, then the backboard can fracture. If the bond is too loose, then the adhesion fails.
One successful resolution of this problem has been the use of two-sided tape having a foam center. One suitable tape, known as “VHB” tape, is commercially available from 3M and Norton. The tape is typically applied to the frame structure, and then the acrylic backboard is pressed on the taped frame.
A significant problem with the use of the two-sided tape described above is the time and labor required to apply the tape to the frame. Currently, substantial manual labor is used to prepare the acrylic backboard surface and frame surface to receive the adhesive tape, to manually lay the tape, and to press the taped backboard and frame together. It would be a substantial improvement in the art to automate the labor-intensive steps in assembly of an acrylic basketball backboard.
Such an automated system and method for bonding an acrylic surface to a frame is disclosed and claimed herein.